중앙데일리

Movie biz gets bunch of new players: Korean groups start producing, and even Chinese are investing

June 29,2018

Scenes from the coming-of-age movie “Student A,” left, and from last year's megahit "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds." Both are based off of popular webtoon series.[LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

The local film industry has long been dominated by four major film producers and distributors: CJ Entertainment, Showbox, Lotte Entertainment and Next Entertainment World. But the industry is seeing some changes following the entrance of newcomers to the market.

Korea’s biggest webtoon platform, Naver Webtoon, is planning to jump into the film production business while a film distributor Merry Christmas, backed by Chinese investors, is also planning to enter the local film business.

Naver Webtoon, which started as a subsidiary of internet portal Naver, kicked off its independent activities starting with “Student A.” Released on June 20, the film is based on a popular Naver webtoon.

Naver Webtoon is planning to establish a new company specializing in the adaptation of webtoon into movies within this year. Kwon Mi-kyung, who resigned from her post as head of the Korean Film Business Division at CJ E&M earlier this year, has been confirmed to head the new company. Kwon is a legendary figure in the film industry who was behind local megahits like “Roaring Currents” (2014), “Ode to My Father” (2014) and “Veteran” (2015), which are the first, third and fourth best-performing movies at the Korean box office ever.

The commercial power of webtoon-based films has been proven by a number of hit movies like “Steel Rain” (2017), “Inside Men” (2015) and “Secretly Greatly” (2013). But the potential of making movies out of webtoons was truly highlighted last year with the megahit “Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds,” a fantasy drama that sold more than 14.4 million tickets, becoming the second best-performing film in Korean history after “Roaring Currents.” The sequel to “Along With the Gods” is scheduled to open in local theaters on Aug. 1.

The first film to be produced by Naver Webtoon, “Student A,” stars Kim Hwan-hee and Suho of boy band Exo. It is a coming-age story of a girl in middle school, Mi-rae (played by Kim), who gets solace from a friend (Suho) she meets through online games. The webtoon was graded 9.9 out of 10 by its viewers. Its film adaptation, released on June 20, is a low-budget flick made for 1.5 billion won ($1.35 million).

Naver Webtoon is planning more film adaptations of webtoons.

“Instead of identifying ourselves as an ordinary film production company, we want to function as a bridge that allows us to collaborate with major film partners, maximizing the intention and characteristics of the original content,” said a spokesperson for Naver Webtoon. “We hope to contribute to enlarging the pie of the [local] film industry by building strengths in planning and marketing films, beating the high-budget foreign films.”

Content production company Playlist, backed by Naver Webtoon and Naver subsidiary Snow, launched a film department in April. Named Semicolon Studio, it imported an American film, “Ruby Sparks” last month.

A scene from “Love Playlist,” produced by Playlist, a subsidiary of Naver Webtoon. [PLAYLIST]

Playlist enjoyed a success with its drama, “Love Playlist,” which received around 500 million hits on Naver TV.

Earlier this year, Yoo Jung-hoon, who headed major film producer and distributor Showbox for more than a decade, resigned to start working with the leading Chinese film studio Huayi Brothers Media. Together, they are establishing a producing and distributing company, Merry Christmas, next month. Yoo says he wants to create and distribute diverse type of content through the new company using the networks of Huayi Brothers.

Yoo was behind some major hits including last year’s period drama “A Taxi Driver,” which sold more than 12 million tickets, and the low-budget horror flick “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.” It sold 2.6 million tickets upon its release in March.

“We are working on hybrid projects that combine dramas and films,” said Yoo. “This will lead film directors and drama script writers to work together, and will create a new type of profit structure.” For example, content will be released through television in the form of dramas of up to 10 episodes. The final episode, which will last around two hours, will become available in theaters. “This is worth a try since there are some firms that co-run broadcasting companies and theaters.”

The plan for Merry Christmas is to annually bring out five to six productions, including traditional forms of dramas and films. Yoo expects the production budget to be between 30 billion won to 40 billion won.

“The overflow of content in the market has led to an exhaustion of materials,” said Yoo. “Instead of relying on high budgets, it has become more essential to approach content based on genres and focus on [developing] more creative and refreshing content.”

Newly-founded producers and distributors are showing a tendency to aim for the global market due to the stagnation of the local film scene, for which ticket sales have been stuck at around 200 million annually over the past five years.

“We are planning to enter the global market over the long-term on par with the four major distributors [in Korea],” said Lee Jae-hyang, chief director at Celltrion Entertainment. A subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Celltrion, the entertainment company jumped into the film production business and produced dramas like “Vagabond,” which is scheduled for release later this year.

The company started making films two years ago, with “Operation Chromite,” and is currently producing a period movie that roughly translates to “Um Bok-dong, the King of the Bicycle.” The movie stars singer-turned-actor Jung Ji-hoon, Lee Bum-soo and Kang So-ra. The company is also planning to jump into distributing films.

Lee Sang-rok, the founder and the former head of Carver Korea, which is famous for its beauty brand AHC, is opening a film distributing company. Jeong Hyeon-ju, who was in charge of investing and producing films at Showbox, will be CEO. The company is planning to launch its business next month.

Dexter Studio, which produced the special effects for “Along with the Gods,” is also moving to join the ranks of local film producers and distributors.

Film production companies are generally welcoming the entrance of more competitors in the film distribution market.

“[More entrants] have given us more opportunities to work on more diverse content,” said Won Dong-yeon, the chief of Realies Pictures. Regarding the inflow of Chinese capital into making and distributing local films, Won said, “Korean films’ reach into other Asian markets, where people have high cultural and emotional connections, could become easier.”

But a source from a distribution company who wished to remain anonymous expressed concerns about the possibility of a film distributor trying to take advantage of the inflow of foreign capital. “Though getting a boost is something to welcome, the homework for these companies is to properly deliver films to audiences.”